Father's Day
by The Cinderninja
Summary: Elysia may have picked up more from her father than anyone realized.


Father's Day  
Fullmetal Alchemist fanfiction  
by The Cinderninja

Today was not a day to be sad. Today was a day to celebrate. This is what she kept telling herself as she sat quietly, at the back of the classroom, preparing herself for her turn.

Today was Father's Day. Her fellow classmates had written essays and speeches, some were telling stories. All about their fathers. Mrs. Garner, the fourth grade teacher, had told Elysia quite clearly that she didn't need to come to class today. Elysia demanded to be given a turn, just like all the other girls.

And eventually, that turn came.

"I don't have any stories about my father. I can't tell you what he was like, because I never knew him." A few kids snickered. They were at that age when they didn't understand death, and those who weren't missing parents thought that it was something to laugh over.

She reached into her bag and took out a large stack of heavy black squares and dropped it loudly on the table, making the other students jump. "Most of you, like me, were too young, and don't remember the Promised Day. But we've all heard stories about it. I'm sure Mrs. Garner remembers it better. My dad died helping the Fullmetal Alchemist save the country."

Her mom knew the real story. So Elysia knew it too. But everyone believed that whatever happened that day, the Fullmetal Alchemist was behind it, and he saved the world that day. Elysia knew there was more to it then that, but... She grinned – a slightly evil sort of grin she may or may not have picked up from big brother Ed. She was going to milk the story for all she could.

Students were outright laughing now. Everyone knew who the Fullmetal Alchemist was. He was a living legend. So people were always claiming to know him, to have met him, to have been saved by him, to have run into him, to be related to him, and the list goes on. So of course poor, fatherless Elysia would try to lie about it too just to get attention.

They could laugh. She had proof.

"But I'm not here to talk about him. I'm here to talk about my dad. And I may not remember him very well, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loved me very much." And now, she smiled. Not just a smile. A manic grin. She picked up the first square off the stack and turned it over. It was a photograph.

"This is my dad the day I was born!" She passed it to the student closest to her. It was the sort of picture most kids would find embarrassing and whine when their parents tried to show it off. One Maes Hughes was gushing at the day old baby in Gracia's arms.

"This is my dad the day _after_ I was born." The next photograph was slapped loudly onto the next desk.

"This is my dad on my first birthday."

"This is my dad crying because my first words were 'mama' and he didn't know what he'd done wrong."

"This is my dad five minutes later crying because it finally occurred to him I'd just said my first words."

"Elysia..." The teacher was sweatdropping.

"This is my dad on my second birthday trying to get my present through the front door. He never could and apparently we all just moved the party outside into the hallway! All our neighbours came into the hallway too! And nobody complained because apparently I was just too cute and they all wanted to see me!" A grin far too cheeky for one her age.

"This is my dad after I threw my birthday cake all over him!" She was laughing, even though she was too young to remember most of it. She had so many photographs, and she'd heard the story behind every one more times then she could count.

"This is daddy crying because he lost a bet with Uncle Roy!" Now she was _really _laughing. Because she knew what the stakes had been. And boy was _that_ a funny story. She wondered if she still had any pictures of her dad in that swan dress, and decided that she would have to take a good look around for one when she got home.

"And this is daddy groveling to get out of the bet."

One stack of photos was gone. She moved on to the second. The class had gone deathly quiet. Not one student so much as twitched in their seats as they stared up at their crazed classmate.

"Um, Elysia, I think-" the teacher was cut off as Elysia squealed, seeing the first photo on the next stack.

"Aaaah!" She cried out.

"This is Ed and my dad fighter over who got to help me blow out my candles on my third birthday!"

"And this is big brother Ed trying to wring my daddy's neck on my third birthday!" Nobody called him just 'Ed', but everyone knew the name anyway. She continued to grin as she slapped photographs onto student's desks.

The next picture was of Hughes and Ed sitting on the floor while kids screamed in the background and an older blond girl was doubled over in laughter. Hughes was holding Ed tightly in a choke hold and was shoving a carton of milk in his face while Ed flailed around. Elysia started laughing so hard she actually started to cry.

"I don't actually know the full story behind this one!" She admitted, but her mood didn't seem at all dampened by this fact. "No one has been able to tell it all the way through!" That day would always remain a mystery to her.

The next photo was Hughes running around outside with his arms stuck out like an airplane while a screaming Elysia flailed around on his shoulders.

The next was Elysia scolding her father and him seeming suitably cowed.

Elysia's presentation had been going for quite a bit longer then the allotted time – she seemed to be getting a bit carried away. Mrs. Garner had thought that father's day would be a tough time for her fatherless student. Of course she had agreed when Elysia had demanded to be allowed to do the 'holiday assignment' as well. She wasn't sure what to expect, but... well... t certainly hadn't been this. Regardless though, _someone _needed to put a stop to the girl's frantic presentation before it got out of hand. Or, any _more_ out of hand.

She stood, ready to calmly ask Elysia to let another student take a turn.

"And _this_ is my dad trying to make Ed act 'more like a kid'." The picture was almost identical to the one of Hughes running around with a screaming Elysia, but this time he had a screaming Ed on his back, who was screaming for entirely different reason. His right arm was raised and it looked like the picture was taken seconds before he brought it down on Hughes head. "He pulled his back running around like that. Apparently automail is much heavier then it looks."

Elysia was going strong, and it seemed it would take nothing short of the utter destruction of the entire city block to get her to stop. And maybe, not even then.


End file.
